On Thursday the Upper School enjoyed listening to one of the most engaging assembly speakers we have had in recent years.  Author Ruta Sepetys, whose novels Between Shades of Gray and Out of the Easy, have been New York Times bestsellers, selling particularly well with young adult readers. Her latest book, Salt to the Sea, tells the story of the sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff, a WWII-era German vessel that was carrying over 10,000 passengers: German soldiers fleeing the approaching Soviet troops, along with desperate refugees from the region now known as Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. The large boat was sunk by a Soviet submarine and most on board perished in the Baltic Sea.

 

Ruta Sepetys didn’t set out to be a novelist. Part of her presentation to the Upper School chronicled her circuitous life journey from upstart student to opera singer to international finance major to video game writer to managing artists in the music business to historical novelist. One of the central figures in her life, her father, narrowly escaped war-torn Lithuania during WWII, and it was her family’s stories that sparked Sepetys’ fascination with her Lithuanian past as well as her love of history. She challenged the students to embrace failure and not to be afraid to follow whatever unexpected paths may present themselves. She noted that sometimes "stories come searching for you" and that we should always be open to the possibilities.

 

An engaging speaker as well as compelling writer, Ms Sepetys exhibited an enthusiastic attitude about her historical research, noting that her goal is to uncover the hidden stories of the past. (Her website notes that she is a “seeker of lost stories.”)  There were audible gasps from the crowd when she revealed some of the most fascinating aspects of her research. The Upper School Book Club, led by Lindsay Beatty, has been reading Sepetys’ work over the past few weeks, and no doubt after Thursday’s presentation many more books will be sold. It’s nice to see students still reading for pleasure and learning about some important history along the way.